Snow White and the huntsman
by HuntressOfArtemisForever
Summary: Um, it's kind of the same, but i guess you could say I changed a couple of things.


"**Lips red as blood, hair black as night, bring me your heart, my dear, dear, snow white." The queen's voice rang in my head. I remember those words. I need to make this worth it. I reach my hand as far as it'll go out of the prison cell's not-so-much of a window. I try to grasp onto the nail. No matter how much I try, my limb won't stretch that far. After many attempts, I realize my plan has failed, this isn't the nail that will help me escape. The guard will be here soon, I need to find a way to get **_the_** nail, the one talked about with the curse of nightshade, it might just be my saving grace. "If many other prisoners have done it, I know I can." I mumble to myself. Then it hits me like a brick wall. "Of course!" If many prisoners have escaped, that must mean they were all using the nail! They must've left some way to get it. I pause and turn around to the opening. There, perched on the open cement is a bird. White as snow, but as much blood red as war itself. This was a killing bird, a bird sent from the dark forest itself. To guide me there, but the question is why. Then I think back to when I was younger. My mother would always me lecture me on things, but when her time was near she told me the most important words that I will ever hear.**

**Her dress wasn't the easiest thing to sit in, but eventually, she was able and patted the spot next to her. She was coughing and as sick as the queen's soul, but she wanted to tell me something. Something that could change my life if I held onto it. She put her hand over my heart and pressed down. It didn't hurt, but I had no clue why she was doing it. The queen had already drank her youth. There was not much more I could do than watch her get sick and die from the queen. "You have beauty. Not just on the outside, but on the inside. You have something special that the queen wants, in your heart." She pressed the spot again. "You have to promise me something." She smiles. I look at her with eyes so fragile and weak. But I manage to nod. "Never let her have it." My mom says darkly. "I promise." I get out. **

**I slowly reach out to touch the bird. I pet its lovely feathers and rub them in between my fingers. "Where is it?" I ask. Okay, talking to a bird is stupid, but it's no coincidence that it showed up. It flies in and taps its beak three times against the stone wall. The wall opens up and shows a nail. Jet black with fear, it has helped prisoner's escaped. I used to ask my mom why this nail was so special.**

"**The nail is cursed, as long as people use it to escape it is cursed. And whoever uses it will pay the price. It's not free. The cost will be out of the moment. Whoever needs it won't think about it. That's why whoever uses it never makes it out of the castle with their lives. My mother told me the curse and it shall send shivers down my back whenever I hear it."**

_Whoever shall use it will feel it's wrath. The curse of nightshade has come back. If you manage to escape with your life, do not forget it will come with a price. The burden is great and you mustn't be a fool, shall the curse will be in action by the first full moon. Take head and just do the time. Because the burden is worse than any crime. The curse of nightshade shall haunt you till death unless it be sealed with a warrior's last breath. Beware and just face the queen, unless you can beat her at her one last sing. Only one person can resist the curse, a person who will take on nightshade's curse. For then it'll be simple with one easy task, to take away her breath finally at last._

"**You see what you need to do, never use it." My mom tells me. "What if I'm the only person it won't happen to?" I ask. "Never take the risk my child, if you have any sense. The curse of nightshade will surpass your dreams of torture. That is if you actually make it out of the castle." My mom sighs.**

**I grab the nail and hope that I was right.**

**Chapter one**

**I could hear the footsteps of the guard on the cold, stony floors and held my breath. "Snow white." He cooed. I backed up on the wall to surprise him when he walked in. "You know I'll find you." He whispered in an evil voice. **_You're wrong. _**He'll be dead before his slimy hands touch me. "You'll never get me." I coo. "Yes I will." I can feel him put on a sly smile. He opens the cage door and I take him out in one strike with the nail. His body falls to the ground. I crouch down. "No you won't." I smile. I return the nail to its stony cage and the wall closes in and it's gone forever. I realize the short window I have for time and run out of the prison cell. It's easy to get out of the castle, but I'm surrounded when I run out. "You're not going anywhere." The guard said formally. "Yes I am." I said already forming a plan. I ran in his direction and slid under him into the cement opening and slid down, already knowing what I must do.**

**The cavern it led to was murky and had a stench. But freedom is freedom one way or another. The cave was getting brighter and brighter, I knew the exit was close. I heard the water clashing against the rocks. It was peaceful, but I stayed alert, for a sudden sign of anything. That's when I heard it. An ear-piercing scream from one of the passage ways in the cavern. And that was my cue to run. But curiosity fought against my will to leave. This could be a trap. What's the risk? But I knew I was wanted. And that meant I needed to go. But not without trying to sort in my head what the age of the person was. Obviously female, maybe between ten or thirteen. Then I ran to the cave entrance. A one way trip and a very long fall. And that's when I jumped off the cliff. I splashed into the water and felt as cold as the guards soul. It was a long trip, and it was very long fall. I actually opened my eyes and could see pieces of ice forming. The ocean was beautiful. It was a royal blue and the light always seemed to shine in the exact place where it was needed. But the iciness of it was too much to bear. I swam up gasping for air. I swam as fast as I could to shore. It was painful because every time I lifted my arms out of the water and the put them back in the iciness would dwindle, then spread, dwindle, then spread. It was like jumping in and out of Antarctica. But I made it in one brutal blow. That didn't slow me. I ran as fast as I could into the forest. Hoping it was enough to save me.**

**/**

"**WHERE IS SHE!?" The queen screamed. "We lost her in the dark forest." The guard reported, looking all professional even though he was a total wreck inside. She walked right up to the guard and slapped him. "Find somebody who ventures to the dark forest. Find them and hunt her. I want her heart beating. And I want it now with blood!" she sent them out to find snow white, the girl with skin white as snow. **

**/**

**I had once asked my mother what the queen exactly wanted from me. She never would tell me, claiming I would figure it out once she passed. And that then it would be my burden, but she said that while she was living, it was still hers. That day that she died, she left, but she told me what the queen wanted. And I wasn't sure if I wanted the burden. But as my mother had said, it was time for me to claim it, because it would not die with her. The burden was about me, and with me it shall be. You couldn't really see the boundary line. But you know if you were in the dark forest and if you weren't. A line of dead leaves served as a reminder. **_When you come in here, there is no going back. _**And I really didn't care. Right now I needed to just get away. And if this is the only place they would never search, then that is where I'm going to be. I walk over the line, and I already feel a sense of dread. All these things hit me at once. Hatred, war, bloodshed, the queen, my mother's death. But I am prepared. **

"**Mom, what is the dark forest?" I ask her while playing with toys. "It is a forest you shall never see as long as I'm living." She scowled. Little did I know the value of the sentence. "What is it, and why is it so bad?" I ask. Being a nine-year old brought a certain curiosity with it. She smiles and sits next to me. "Long ago, a demon thought our kingdom was too beautiful. Things like war, bloodshed, and pain, things the demons craved, never existed in our land." She smiled. "Before the queen ever existed?" I asked. She looked into my eyes. "No, but before the queen ruled." She mumbled. "The demon decided that our forests could use darkness and evil. So it created the dark forest." She whispered. "What does it look like?" I had asked. "I wouldn't know, only a few have ventured through it." She said politely. It was later on that year that I figured out who the demon was. And I wasn't surprised that she now ruled our kingdom. A year later my interest had perked up. "Tell me more about the dark forest." I pleaded. "It has a special way of keeping people out." She hinted. "Like what?" I asked giving in to curiosity. "Once you walk over the boundary, you feel every bad emotion you've ever experienced. They all come rushing in one big heap. You can't stop it. That scares people off." She tortured. "Can you resist it?" I ask. "Only the purest of hearts will make it pass the boundary." She smiles at me. Times like that I couldn't even imagine her dying.**

**I exhale slowly and walk pass the line, and the feeling increases. But my heart must be pure, because I keep going. Have to admit, the dark forest is pretty, but it has this evil ring that you can't get pass. It will always be feared and bring a unique kind of horror. As you know, the demon was angered by the beauty, why would she create a beautiful forest if she was born from hatred? Or if fear is what she feeds on? Something makes me stop in my tracks. There is a black tree in front of me. But it seems to have a person carved out of wood on it. Well, it has a human figure, but it has wings. It's either a demon or angel. It's hard to tell since it's black. You never know if it's evil or pure unless it's alive. But the carver must've done a really good job… I reach out to touch it as my curiosity gives in. Then the thing comes to life. It screams and yelps, but the base of its body never leave the tree. I think I know this story. My mom told it to me a long time ago.**

"**There is a demon in the dark forest. She was cursed to live on that tree forever." My mother told me. "But what did it ever do?" I asked. "Its name was Artne'. It had a problem and would always lure men to her in the water, but then she would drown them. Or at least that was what she was supposed to do." My mother scowls. "What did she actually do?" I ask. "She would save their lives. And children's lives, she loved to help us." She looked dark. "How was that horrible?" I asked. "She was a demon, and that was not their job. So the demon who created the dark forest cursed her to live on the tree forever, only being able to move her wings." "That was harsh." I whine. "But so was the demon." My mom looked uneasy about it, so I ended the conversation there.**

**I scurried back and realized that I must move on.**


End file.
